Keynote Speaker (12:00 to 12:45 pm)
Bill McDorman: What is Native? What is Invasive?
Does your hair bristle at the thought of invasive species? Do you become visibly upset when someone mentions non-native plants?Bill McDorman, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance suggests that we need nuance, discussion and a permaculture lens to evaluate the good from the so called bad plants in our landscapes.
Bill McDorman is Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, Ketchum, Idaho, a seed conservation organization he co-founded in 2014. Bill got his start in the bio-regional seed movement while in college in 1979 when he helped start Garden City Seeds in Missoula, Montana. In 1984, Bill founded Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens, a mail order seed company he ran successfully until sold to an intern in 2012. He authored the book, Basic Seed Saving, in 1994. In 2010, he and his wife Belle Starr created Seed School, a nationally recognized weeklong training that has graduated over 800 students from around the world. He and his wife served as Co-Directors of Native Seeds/SEARCH from 2011 to 2014. Bill and Belle reside in Cornville, Arizona and find themselves in the beautiful Rocky Mountains spreading the seed gospel during the summers.